Putnam staying ahead of kindergarten’s new rigors

Saturday

Nov 9, 2013 at 4:02 PMNov 9, 2013 at 4:02 PM

By Francesca KefalasFor The Bulletin

The days of kindergarten being all about show-and-tell and learning the alphabet are over.

Putnam’s Family Resource Center has won a statewide award for its efforts to arm parents with the information needed to prepare their children for a more rigorous kindergarten program. The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education was to give the center a communications award at its annual conference over the weekend for the publication “Transitioning to Kindergarten.”

“Kindergarten is now more what first grade was,” Superintendent William Hull said. “We need to balance these higher standards and still make learning fun for kids.”

In recent years, the expectations for kindergartners has increased, and the state’s adoption of the Common Core curriculum ensures the standards will rise again.

Suggested skills

The full-color, 10-page pamphlet for which the Putnam center is being honored outlines the skills children should have entering kindergarten and offers suggested activities to help them hone those skills.

The activities are a critical component of the booklet, said Patricia Bryant, director of the Family Resource Center. Staff have learned that many children are lagging in social and emotional development, and their language development and literacy skills, Bryant said.

Putnam has a preschool program and full-day kindergarten, Hull said. Like in many districts, the number of children receiving free or reduced lunch in Putnam has risen in recent years, Hull said. Putnam has 51 percent of its students on the program.

With the combination of more rigorous expectations and increasing poverty levels, Putnam has to do more to prepare students for school, he said.

“Economically, Putnam is a very diverse community,” Hull said. “The neat thing is our staff doesn’t look at that. They’re highly dedicated, caring and loving people, and the needs of the children are what matters most.”

Bryant said the publication grew from a similar publication the district did for preschool entry. While Putnam has a preschool program and Head Start, not every entering kindergartener has had those experiences, Bryant said.

Identifying concerns

“We started to look at our incoming kindergarten students to identify areas that may need some support, as well as having parents requesting information about how they could better support their children and prepare them for kindergarten,” Bryant said.

Even some preschool providers have been asking for more information about the increasing demands of kindergarten.

Bryant said the pamphlet is new, but the staff is hoping to get it out to more providers and parents.

“Early feedback from parents is that they love the document and really appreciate the suggested activities and feel their children are well-prepared for kindergarten,” Bryant said.

Resident Pam Williams, who has an 18-month-old son, said she is glad Putnam is trying to find ways to help families get ready for school.

“It’s not like it used to be when I was growing up,” Williams said. “You don’t know what these kids need to learn unless you’re in the schools.”